Electrical contact-shoe.



PATENTED DEC. 11, 1906.

r. FILDES. BLEOTRIGALGONTAUT SHOE.

A III s I 6' as UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS- FILDES, O'F RICHMOND HILL, NEWV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE COOK,OF ALLENDALE, NEW JERSEY.

ELECTRICAL CONTACT-SHOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 11, 1906.

Application fil d February 20, 1906. Serial No. 301.996.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS FILDEs, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Richmond Hill, borough of Queens, in the county of Queensand State of New York, have made and invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Electrical Contact- Shoes, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to an improvement in contact-shoes forthird-railelectric railways, the object being to provide a shoe of this kind orcharacter so constructed that it will effectually remove the ice andsnow which collects on the third rail and under all conditions make andmaintain an efficient electrical contact therewith.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the shoe that thecontacting parts when worn down from service may be easily and readilyremoved and others substituted therefor; further, to provide a shoewhich will be simple and economical to construct, du rable, andefficient in use; and with these and other ends in view it consists incertain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, aswill be hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in perspective of acontact-shoe constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal sectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view,and Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a modified form thereof.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the shoe adapted to contact withthe third rail B, usually arranged parallel to the trackrails, saidshoe, if desired, being cast of a single piece of metal and provided onits upper side a with lugs or other means Z) for attachment to theoperating-levers. The shoe is preferably hollowed out on its under side,as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, in order that the sides only may bearupon or contact with the rail B. These two sides 0 of the shoe are madeslanting-that is, converging toward one end thereof, whereby to effect ashearing cut of the ice or snow on the rail and force the same to oneside of the latter. These sides 0 are also beveled in the direction oftheir width or height, thereby presenting a sharp cutting edge to theice or snow collected on the con ductor-rail B, and thereby facilitatingthe re moval thereof. The converging sides of the shoe are each providedwith an opening d, extending entirely through the same, thereby formingthe contacting edges 6 e, as clearly illustrated in 3, the outer edges ebeing grooved or serrated, forming cutting-teeth. By means of thisconstruction it will be un derstood that as the shoe moves along therail the sharp toothed edge e of the sides of the shoe will effect ashearing cut to the accumulated ice and snow on the rail, entirelyremoving the same and depositing it to one side of said rail B. Should,however, the edge e fail to remove all of the ice and snow, thefollowing edge e, which also bears on and contacts with the rail, willin turn effectually remove it, any accumulation between the two edges eand 6 being forced up through the openings (Z and out through the top ofthe s 106.

Instead of casting or otherwise forming the shoe in one piece, as abovedescribed, it may, if desired, be constructed as illustrated in Fig.4-that is, the contacting sides f and f of the shoe may be formedseparately and of steel or other desired metal, the ends of these platesor blades being dovetailed to retain them in proper position within thecasting A. Further, if desired, they may be properly placed within themold and the metal of the shoe A cast on and around the same, suchmethod of course permanently securing them in place.

A shoe constructed as above described is not only cheap and economicalto'produce, but is very effective in practice in that it will operate tothoroughly remove any ice or snow which may accumulate on the rail B andat all times properly make and maintain electrical contact with thelatter.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Let ters Patent, is

1. A shoe of the character described having its sides converging towardone end and beveled in the direction of their height, said sides beingprovided with an opening extending entirely through the same,substantially as described.

2. A shoe of the character described having its sides converging towardone end and beveled in the direction of their height, the outercontacting edges of said sides being serrated, substantially asdescribed.

3. A shoe of the character described having its lower surface hollowedout, its sides converging toward one end and beveled in the direction oftheir height, said sides having openings formed entirely through thesame, substantially as described.

4. A shoe of the character described having its under side hollowed out,its sides converging toward one end and beveled in the direction oftheir height, and having openings extending entirely through the same,the outer contacting edges of said converging l sides being serrated,substantially as described.

Signed at New York, borou h .of Manhattan, in the county of New Yor andState of r 5 New York, this 16th day of February, A. D. 1906.

THOMAS FILDES.

M. VAN NORTWIOK,

